There comes a time in the food critic's life when she or he is forced to do the inevitable: to tender a bad restaurant review. It's a grim task to take apart a restaurant. Unfortunately, a food writer has a responsibility to give readers an unflinching assessment. It's a thankless, joyless job — or wait, is it really?
Critic and novelist Jay Rayner recently sounded off in a Brooklyn presentation. Rayner said bad experiences give writers better fodder, and a chance to show off. "When you're talking about a bad restaurant, basically you are rubbernecking at a car crash. And the language opens up before you. There are more tools in the toolbox."
Corby Kummer, food critic for Boston Magazine, agreed with Rayner. "They practically write themselves," Kummer said Tuesday on Boston Public Radio. "It's shooting fish in a barrel, which is why I don't do it very often."
Critic Pete Wells wrote perhaps the archetypal restaurant hit-piece in 2012: a plate-by-plate dissection of Guy's American Kitchen & Bar, owned by superstar restaurateur Guy Fieri. Wells penned a series of (perhaps rhetorical) questions for Fieri. "Did you try that blue drink, the one that glows like nuclear waste? The watermelon margarita? Any idea why it tastes like some combination of radiator fluid and formaldehyde?"
Kummer said out-and-out eviscerations of restaurants are rare. More often, a critic has to balance legitimate gripes with constructive feedback, rather than straight-up attacks.
Recently, Kummer put this to practice after a disappointing dining experience. Kummer thought the restaurant was "hokey" and "corporate," and was bothered by the décor as much as the food itself. "I thought, 'We're kind of at the end of the line here. Just show us what you can cook,'" Kummer said.
I feel like The New York Times movie critic whose one grudging word of praise appears in six-inch type in the movie ad. --Corby Kummer
There's a lot at stake when a critic walks in the door, whether it's a professional food writer, or a citizen diner armed with a Yelp account. Kummer said he's mindful a single, unflattering turn-of-phrase can be blown out of proportion. "I feel like The New York Times movie critic whose one grudging word of praise appears in six-inch type in the movie ad," Kummer said.
He added that critics want restaurants to succeed as badly as the owners do. "I view myself as a cheerleader for local chefs and local restaurants, which is the most pompous thing I could say. But [we want] to cheer it along as it evolves, to celebrate progress, to celebrate artistry, and people taking chances."
Kummer said he prefers to think carefully about the food, to write thoughtfully, and most importantly, to not draw attention to himself. "Always makes it worse to be recognized. It throws the timing off. It makes them self-conscious."
Kummer said not every critic feels that way. "James Beard's great line is, 'the best restaurant is the restaurant in which I am best known.'"
>> To hear Corby Kummer's entire interview on Boston Public Radio, click the audio above. To read some of Kummer's reviews head to Boston Magazine.
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly referred to Jay Rayner as "Chef Marco Pierre White."
